Monday, March 28, 2011

Berlin, bike rides, and crazy hostels


Looking at the TV tower, near my hostel
As my previous post stated, a visit to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen was what I chose to do with my first day in Berlin.

 I really only had two days anyway, so I chose to do something astounding that would enable me to see everything, or at least close to everything:



 I went on a bike tour.


I chose Fat Tire Bike Tours since my brother worked for the walking portion of that company in Paris. The tour didn't start until 10ish, and I really didn't want to hang around my hostel, as cool as it had been (it was hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy themed!) so I set out a little early and walked around East Berlin by myself for awhile.

\

The tour took us by all of the expected sites,








Especially moving for me was the Berlin wall. To think of an entire society that kept it's people locked up behind a large stone wall, merely because they were afraid of another society, is astounding, and I have trouble understanding why people doubt that sort of abuse of power today. Don't even get me started on people who don't believe the Holocaust happened. 
















The bleakness of certain portions of the wall really got to me. But then it would be juxtaposed with something like this:

But then it would be followed by something like this. So it was a definite high highs, low lows tour.


















I really enjoyed the tour. I wish I could tell you more about it, in detail, and be witty, but I really can't. Oh well.

 Very Soviet apparently. No clue what that really means.

 The scaffolding sort of ruins it, doesn't it?



PS - isn't this a cool photo? 

Friday, March 25, 2011

1 in 133

Just found out about the 1 in 133 campaign, and I'm super excited about it. A challenge to change the FDA food labeling laws, specifically to demand gluten-free labeling!

Click here to help!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Why I Rotaract

A group of us were talking about community service recently. I laughed that community service was the reason I love Rotaract so much. Someone else in the conversation argued that I seemed to love Rotaract for Rotaract's sake. Ok, that may be true, but here in a few neatly summarized points, is why I love Rotaract, community service, and all things Rotary. And not just because of my Dad either... promise.



During a recent Rotaract presentation, we talked about Why We Serve. The reasons listed, altruistic, faith-based, humanist-based, or just a basic guilt for having a good life, were dependable and expected. Nothing wrong with expected, hey, I'm sure mine's expected to.

I serve because I think humans share a bond, we're all part of the creation, and I think we need to not be afraid to help other parts of the creation. This means finding a way to make sustainable change in a manner that is friendly to the local culture. Long-lasting effects are what I'm interested in, not a short term good feeling.



So I Rotaract because I believe the change that Rotary/Rotaract/Interact are trying to bring about is long lasting change, e.g. the End Polio Now campaign. Not only has polio been eradicated from most of the world, but they're still fighting to get it out of places where politics or the population density holds up progress. These things impress me, that tenacity is something I'm interested in, and I believe Rotary (and the other groups through them) are interested in tenacity, making a real difference and not giving up until they do.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Inbetween

I'm in this weird phase right now where I'm in between.
Between:

  • The piano recital and the composition recital. 
    • There's an odd amount of anticipation and an odd sense of remorse all mixed together. It's weird. All I know is that next time around, I'm not doing anything on Friday that I don't have to. You can't make me. Nyah. 
  • Midterms and finals. 
    • I'll soon be taking my last exams for undergraduate work. That's terrifying and exciting all at once. 
  • Adulthood and childhood (/young adulthood, college-age adulthood, whatever you call it, it's not real life)
    • I don't have a job, I don't know where I'm going (KC vs. the rest of the world), I have no idea what God has in store for next year, and the suspense is killing me right now. 
It's a weird place I'm in right now. I hope it doesn't last much longer.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Just a little city I love



Oxford
Every time someone mentions the name I stop. I can be fifty feet away from the persons speaking of this city, and I still stop and try to insert myself into the conversation. This obsession has concerned me at times, because I can't tell why I'm obsessed with one location. 





I have a wanderlust problem. I don't sit still well, and I don't stay in one place well. So normally I'm just thinking of anywhere but where I'm at (I apparently also have a problem with contentedness), but when it comes to this year and last, I was almost always perfectly content to be in Oxford (roommate issues aside), and this year, I consistently want to be there. Not just anywhere else. There, a specific location.
That's never happened before. 




I left for an international trip the first time when I was six. Canada. Again when I was nine. England and Scotland (my first taste of Oxford). Again when I was eighteen. (Italy, France, England (Cambridge this time). Again at twenty-two. (My year abroad). So I've got this wanderlust thing figured out.




wanderlust - (wan-der-lust) 
ˈwändərˌləst
noun
A strong desire to travel, e.g.: consumed by wanderlust.


Like I said, I'm a pro. 









What I can't decide is, do I miss the place?

Do I miss the friends


Do I miss the activities, the fun, the history, the libraries, the independence





Or is it more than that? Was being there a time when I felt so intrinsically myself that I'm having trouble recreating that personage? I know I was freer there, but was that because I was content with my place and my person, because I wasn't worried about the future, it would take care of itself, because I felt safe? 


Or have I (gasp, heaven forbid), idealized this year, this place, this time, to the point where it looks much better in my head than it really was? Have I taken what I learned and accomplished during a year, and said, "Well, if I managed this there, think what I could do if I went back!" Is this the reason I'm discontent? 




Or do I just have a lot of questions that don't really have an answer. I'm leaning toward this one right now. Yes, I idealize my year, but I'm not entirely sure it doesn't at least partially deserve the idealism. Yes, there were bad things. Of course there were bad things. But I would take all of those bad things back: housemate issues, cultural barriers, even that infernal rain and my perpetually wet feet, just to be back in that place right now. 









I've never thought of myself as a sentimental person. But if we talk too long and too nostagically about Oxford, I get teary sometimes. Right after I was back, during the fall mostly, when someone would mention a particular aspect of Oxford, I would feel this physical pining within me. 


Emotions are powerful things. Don't doubt them please. If I have an emotional connection to this place, I'd be wrong to tell myself I shouldn't have that connection and to "just move on with my life" as some tell me I should.




All I know is this:
Oxford: I'm coming back. Don't worry, I'm not gone for long. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

What do we really want?

When in the course of our lives we start thinking about wants, needs, desires, do we ever stop to think "Oh hey, maybe what I want isn't the same thing as what God says I need"?

I want a job next year. But a friend of mine reminded me life is about desiring God, not earthly pleasures, and that maybe just because I want a job (so I can pay my bills) is not a sufficient reason for me to have a job.

I want to pass my classes. Okay, I want to do better than pass, I want to excel. But maybe that's not in the books either.

I'm trying, very hard, to stop saying "I need to do this" and say instead, "I want to this, but I acknowledge that it may not be what I need".  I mean, it may not work, but trying is better than sticking my head in the sand.